The Story of Rhea
by 011402RandomWriterGirl
Summary: Rhea is a girl with a big problem: she has no memories prior to her waking up in the back of a school bus. Apparently, she has a boyfriend named Leo and a best friend named Piper. She attends 'Wilderness School' and is a bad kid who only gets by by living off of her rich parents' cash. At least, that's what everyone tells her. But, why does she feel like that's a lie? (Fem!Jason)
1. Blank Beginnings

***RHEA***

Even before she was electrocuted and thrown off the edge of the cliff, Rhea was already having a bad day. She awoke in the back of a bus, head on the shoulder of some boy sitting next to her, with her fingers interlaced with his. That wasn't necessarily the bad part. The boy was cute, but she had no idea who he was.

She sat up and looked around, perplexed. There were other teenagers in the seats in front of her; talking with friends, listening to music on their iPod, or sleeping. They all looked around her age - sixteen, maybe seventeen? Okay, that's scary. She didn't even remember her own age.

The bus rumbled along a bumpy road, and the window she sat besides showed rolling desert dunes and golden sand under a cloudless blue sky. Rhea was pretty sure she didn't live in a desert. She tried racking her brain. Tried to think back...the last thing she remembered...

A sharp pain flared up in her head and she hissed while laying a hand to her temples.

The boy sitting next to her tugged lightly on her hand, looking at her softly in concern. "You alright there, beautiful?"

The boy wore faded jeans, a grey tee, and an army fatigue jacket. He had a cheerful, babyish face, pointy ears, curly black hair, and a mischievous smile. He looked like a Latino Santa's elf who should never be allowed around matches or sharp objects. His free hand was moving with rapid speed; fiddling with the buttons of his jacket, running through his hair, tapping patterns into the beige colored seats. He was either high on a sugar rush or had a serious case of ADHD.

Rhea pulled her hand away and scooted closer to the window. She tried to explain, "I'm sorry, I don't-"

Up in the front of the bus, a loud voice boomed out, "Alright, Cupcakes, listen up!"

The speaker was a man who just had to be a coach. He had beady, gunslinger eyes and a sour face with a wispy goatee. His body was buff and muscular. He wore a bright orange polo shirt, nylon workout pants, Nikes, and a baseball cap that was pulled low over his bushy eyebrows. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero.

From somewhere on the bus someone yelled out, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"Who said that?!" Coach Hedge snarled. He glared around the bus for the culprit. When his eyes landed on Rhea, he froze and narrowed his eyes more.

Rhea felt a pang of pure fear jolt through her body. This man knew she didn't belong her. He would call her out and ask her who she was, and Rhea wouldn't have a clue what to tell him.

Coach Hedge stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before looking away. Rhea let out a breathe of relief.

"We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way." He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.

Rhea looked at the boy next to her and asked, "Can he talk to us that way?"

The boy shrugged. His now free hands seemed be a whirlwind of motion. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals.'" He grinned like it was joke they shared, wiggling his eyebrows.

Rhea frowned. "This is some kind of mistake. I'm not supposed to be here."

She was telling the truth, but the boy seemed to thin it was a joke. He barked a laugh. "Sure, Rhea. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times, and Piper didn't steal that BMW."

"I didn't steal that car, Leo!" snapped a girl from the seat besides them. She leaned over the aisle and shot the Latino a glare, a deep blush covering her nose and cheeks.

Piper wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. She was seriously pretty. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, and green.

"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" the boy, Leo, rolled his eyes and looked at Rhea like, Can you believe her?

"Leo..." Piper's words carried a clear threat if he continued.

The Latino ignored her tone and looked back towards Rhea, he said, "Anyway, I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"

"I don't know you," Rhea said bluntly. This guy obviously needed it spelled out in front of him to understand.

Not that it helped. At her words, Leo gave a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your boyfriend. I'm his evil clone."

Rhea felt the urge to face- wait, what?!

"B-boyfriend?!" She stuttered. She could feel her face turning red.

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at Rhea. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"

Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"

The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"

Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"

Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."

"Guys, seriously," Rhea pleaded. The blush on her face was slowly fading away. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"

Piper knit her eyebrows together. She looked concerned. "Rhea, are you joking?"

"No! I have no idea—"

"Aw, yeah, she's joking," Leo said while tossing an arm around her shoulder and drawing her to his side. "She's trying to get me back for kissing her in the middle of Algebra, aren't ya Babe?"

Rhea stared at him blankly, slowly slipping herself from under his arm and scooting back into her corner by the window.

"No, I think she's serious." Piper moved to the very edge o her seat and leaned as much as she could into theirs. She tried to reach over to lay a hand of Rhea's forehead, but the other girl only leaned further away.

"I'm sorry," Rhea said. "I don't—I can't—"

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered.

"There's a shocker," Leo muttered with a huff.

But Piper kept her eyes on Rhea, eyebrows furrowed like she didn't know whether to feel hurt or skeptical. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Rhea shook her head helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."

**...o0o...**

A few minutes later, the bus dropped them in front of a museum sitting in the middle of nowhere. The students all filed out of the bus, and Rhea found herself situated awkwardly between Leo and Piper's bodies. A cold wind blew across the desert, and Rhea shivered. She hadn't paid much attention to what she was wearing, but it was no where near warm enough. Her jean shorts were high waisted, her purple t-shirt had the sleeves torn off, and a thin, black wind beater hung loosely on her frame. Compared to her companions, Rhea felt seriously underdressed.

Leo's arm had once again made its' way across her shoulder. He was ridiculous, close to her. Rhea could feel the sheer amount of heat radiating off his body - much like a furnace. Though she felt uncomfortable and flushed at his proximity, she didn't brush the limb away. Like she mentioned before, her clothes weren't warm enough.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," the boy began in a way-too-cheerful-voice-to-be-trusted tone. "We go to the 'Wilderness School', which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, 'boarding school'—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

"No." Rhea deadpanned.

The other students didn't look anything like Leo had described. Most of them were laughing and gossiping with others, their voices mingling in the quiet air. None of them had the appearance of an delinquent. Rhea absently wondered what happened to get them in 'Wilderness School'.

"You're really laying this on thick huh?" Leo seemed amused by the 'prank'. "Okay, Piper here - your best friend - is the service maid your parents got for you when they sent you away. She does laundry, chores, homework, and even gives you the answers to tests - all you have to do is ask. She waits on you hand and foot and always covers for us when we decide to make out in the dorm and wherever else I feel like. Speaking of me; I'm your fiancée who you're madly in love with and have been dating for the past month and a half. We both enjoy taking romantic strolls in the gardens, pranking all the jerks in the school, and having heated sessions every five-"

"LEO!" Piper screeched with her cheeks flushed a crimson red. "I swear, Valdez, if you say one more word!"

"...seconds."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Leo laughed at her before turning to Rhea again. "Seriously though, Piper is your best friend and we are dating."

Piper groaned in annoyance and rubbed at her temples. "Let's j-just call Coach Hedge and tell him what's wrong."

Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Rhea by whacking her upside the head. I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep my girlfriend sane and unharmed."

"Leo, Rhea needs help," Piper insisted. "She's got a concussion or—"

"Yo, Piper. Don't talk to those bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?" A guy dropped back from the crowd of students entering the museum and wedged himself between Piper and Rhea, knocking Leo to the ground. He tossed an arm over each of their shoulders, drew them close, and grinned, showing off teeth that were bright enough to make someone go blind.

He was tall, buff with dark hair cut Superman style. His eyes were hidden behind dark shades and his skin was deeply tanned. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans, and boots. The arrogant air around him made it clear that this dude thought he was God's gift to girls everywhere.

Rhea hated him instantly.

"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Ah, come on, Babe. This is your lucky day!" Dylan looked Rhea up and down in a lecherous way before hooking his arm with Piper and dragging her through the museum doors. Piper looked back at Rhea with a like, 911 look before she disappeared.

Leo got to his feet and glowered darkly towards where Dylan disappeared. He muttered something under his breathe before announcing, "I hate that guy."

"I didn't like him touching me." Rhea frowned. Leo wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her to his side, fingers rubbing comforting circles into her hip.

"Don't worry about him, Beautiful," Leo's voice was oddly soft and he stirred them both threw the doors. "If he touches you again, I'm going to break his perfect jaw and punch him in his perfect teeth. Promise."

"...Leo, you're weird."

"Trust me, Beautiful, you haven't weird yet."

**...o0o...**

The museum tour didn't interest Rhea at all. It was all about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, which owned the museum. To be honest, her attention was mostly focused on the peculiar thing Leo was fiddling with in his hands and Piper's constant hissed threats to Dylan, who had a tendency to let his hands stray lower than they needed to.

At one peticular exhibit, a girl who must've been part of the popular cliqe called out, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

The other students laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but Rhea got the feeling she was clenching her fists.

"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "Oh, sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."

Piper charged her, but before a fight could start, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"

The group shuffled on to the next exhibit, but the girl kept calling out little comments to Piper.

"Good to be back on the rez?" she asked in a sweet voice not even a minute after.

"Dad's probably too drunk to work," Isabel continued in a drawling voice. "That's why she turned klepto."

Piper ignored her, but Rhea was ready to beat her black and blue. She may not remember anything, but she knew she hated bullies.

Leo didn't even look up when he caught her arm. "Be cool, Babe. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"

"Why? What about her dad?"

Leo laughed and shook his head in disbelief, head rising to look at her with raised eyebrows. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your best friend's dad—"

"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad." Rhea replied testily.

Leo's lips thinned and a look of concern passed onto his face before he went back smiling playfully. "Whatever. We have to talk when we get back on the bus."

Coach Hedge stopped them before a set of clear glass doors. He announced, "Alright, cupcakes! You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."

The moment Rhea stepped foot out of the doors, something cold and hard settled at the bottom of her stomach. A shiver ran down her spine. When the doors closed shut behind her, she couldn't help but think that she just signed her own death note.

**...oOo...**

The feeling didn't go away when Rhea saw the Grand Canyon in front of her, alive and in person. It didn't go away when Leo took her hand and dragged her along the skywalk's edge to lean on the railing and peer down into the endless abyss. It didn't go away when he looked at her with a dopey grin and eyes ablaze with excitement and awe. It didn't go away when he opened his mouth and said the worst pick-up line ever imaginable. "You know, I always wondered what the Grand Canyon looked like, mind if I see yours?"

Rhea might not have her memory, but even she knew that was an epic fail.

Instead of indulging him to continue, Rhea busied herself with taking in the view, trying hard to ignore the feeling that just wouldn't go away. The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Rhea could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.

Crazy Gods...

Rhea hissed as that sharp pain flared up again. Where had she come up with that idea? She rubbed at her temples and Leo looked at her in concern.

"You okay? You look like you're about to puke." He placed a hand to her forehead, but Rhea only moves away, choosing instead to lean heavily on the railing.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Just a headache."

Leo pursed his lips with a look that said he knew it was a lie, but he didn't push it.

Above them thunder rumbled. A cold wind blew at them from the side and pushed the duo dangerously against the railing.

The latino looked up and narrowed his eyes. "This can't be safe. The storm is right above us. We can be blown right over."

He was right, Rhea mused. The cloudless blue sky from before disappeared, and now dark storm clouds swirled above them in an angry, billowing way. But only above the skywalk - no where else. The rest of the sky was clear.

That feeling in the pit of her stomach grew heavy.

"All right, Cupcakes!" Coach Hedge shouted over the wind with a frown. He was looking at the storm with squinted eyes. "Looks like we gotta cut this short! Finish your worksheets quickly! We're going in in thirty."

The storm rumbled again in response. Not knowing why she did it; Rhea stuck a hand in her pocket and pulled out a golden coin the size of a half-dollar, thick and uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-ax. On the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. The inscription said something like ivlivs.

"Is that gold?!" Leo's face was split between awe and surprise. He grinned wickedly. "Dang, Babe, you been holding out on me."

Rhea stuffed the coin back into her pocket as soon as he began. "It's nothing. Just a coin."

Leo raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "Whatever. So you still got your worksheet?"

As the minutes passed, the storm grew darker and darker. Leo filled in the worksheet with one word responses and promptly shoved it into his back pocket, choosing instead to drew out whatever he was fiddling with earlier.

"Wanna see something cool?" He shot Rhea a grin.

"Sure." Rhea replied.

"Check it out." He held out a copter made of pipe cleaner and launched it into the canyon. Rhea figured it would plummet, but the pipe-cleaner blades actually spun. The little copter made it halfway across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiraled into the void.

"How'd you do that?" Rhea asked with wide eyes.

Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."

"Seriously, are we friends?" Rhea's face was completely serious.

"Have to be if we're dating, sweetheart."

"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"

"It was …" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."

"When's my birthday? What's my favorite color? Who are my parents?"

"June first." Leo said, looking at her like she just told him the sun exploded. "You like both sky blue and gold, and you never talk about your parents because they were drunk and neglected and abused you. Don't you remember?"

"No, I don't remember anything! I don't remember you or Piper. I don't remember anyone here. What if—"

"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

'That's exactly what I think', Rhea thought.

But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took her for granted. Everyone acted like she was a normal part of the class—except for Coach Hedge.

"Stay here," Rhea said to Leo. "I'll be right back."

Before the latino could protest, Rhea was walking across the skywalk.

Their group had the place to themselves. Kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. She kept pushing him away, and when she saw Rhea she gave her a look like, Throttle this guy for me.

Rhea motioned for her to hang on. She walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.

"Did you do this?" the coach asked her.

Rhea paused. It sounded like the coach had just asked if she had made the thunderstorm. "Do what?"

Coach Hedge glared at her, eyes as hard as diamonds. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"

"You mean...you don't know me?" Rhea said. "I'm not one of your students?"

Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."

Rhea was so relieved she almost wanted to cry. She was right! She was in the wrong place. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."

"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So who are you, and where did you come from?"

Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but Rhea decided to answer honestly. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."

Coach Hedge studied her face like he was trying to read her thoughts.

"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."

"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"

Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Rhea wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.

"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.

"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then you pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"

That sharp pain flared and grew enough to have Rhea's vision covered in white. It was like a sledgehammer had been slammed into her head. Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. She still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words did something. It felt like her mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.

She didn't know how long the pain lasted, only that - when he vision came back - she felt sick and was being held up only by Coach Hedge. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."

"Director?" Rhea said. Her voice came out slurred. "What camp?"

"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Rhea shouted over the wind.

"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"


	2. Battle On The Skywalk

*Rhea*

THE STORM HAD BECOME A MINIATURE HURRICANE. The sky was completely darkened above, the swirling winds sliced at any revealed skin and tugged on your clothes with enough strength to almost throw you right off the skywalk. Funnel clouds snaked down like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish. Screams were barely heard over roaring currents as the students ran their way towards the doors.

Rhea skid over the wet slicked glass as she made her way towards Leo, who was gripping the railing tight enough to make his knuckles whiten. As soon as she was close enough, she reached out and grabbed onto the back of his jacket, wrapping her arms around his waist to hold herself steady.

"Leo," she yelled as loud as she could into his back, "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" she felt rather than heard him reply.

Coach Hedge came up beside them and gave them a much undesired push towards the others.

"Go, go, go!" he urged.

Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. Piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildly, her dark hair all in her face. Rhea thought she must've been freezing, but she looked calm and confident - telling the others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.

Rhea, Leo, and Coach Hedge ran towards them, but it was like running in quicksand. The wind seemed to fight them, pushing them back.

Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.

Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin. He said, "Sorry, Piper. But I'm done helping."

He flicked his wrist, and Piper flew back, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.

"Piper!" Rhea shouted. She tried to charge forward, but the wind was against her, and Coach Hedge pushed her back.

"Let me go!" she yelled at him. Coach Hedge ignored her.

"Rhea, Leo, stay behind me," he ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."

"What?" demanded Leo. He gritted his teeth as a gust of wind sent him skid back a few inches. "What monster?"

The Coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps - like the comical bumps cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat - but it wasn't a bat anymore. Somehow it changed into a crudely-shaped tree branch club, with a few twigs and leaves still attached.

Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, Coach. Let the girl attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa."

The Coach made an angry noise, like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."

"You think you can protect three half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."

Dylan pointed to Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been toss away. Somehow, he'd managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into a canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Rhea his cub. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy"- he stabbed a thumb towards Dylan - "while I get Leo."

"Get him how?"

"Climbing." said Coach Hedge shortly. He kicked off his shoes, and Rhea's eyes widened as she took in what she saw.

The Coach didn't have feet. He had hooves - goat's hooves. Which means, Rhea realized, the things on his head were horns not bumps.

"You're a fawn!" Rhea gasped.

"Satyr!" snapped Hedge. "Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later."

Hedge leaped over the railing. He sailed towards the canyon wall and hit hooves first. He bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tries to attack him as he picked his way towards Leo.

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned to Rhea. "Now it's your turn, girl."

Rhea did the only thing that came natural - she threw the club.

It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him so hard on the head, that he fell to his knees.

Piper wasn't as dazed as she seemed. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could us it, Dylan rose. Blood - golden blood - trickled from his forehead.

"Nice try, girl." He sneered at Rhea. "But you'll have to do better."

The skywalk shuddered. Cracks began appearing on the glass.

Dylan's body dissolved into smoke, as if his molecules were coming unglued. He had the same face, but his body had suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a living storm cloud. He sprouted black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk.

"Ventus." Rhea acknowledged what he was without even realized it. "A storm spirit."

Dylan's laugh was the horrible thing in existence. "I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo and Piper I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a third was coming - someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

Two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of Dylan and turned into Venti - ghostly young men with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning.

Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Rhea a determined look, and she understood the message: Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind.

Pretty and violent. Rhea wished she remembered having her as a friend.

She got ready to charge, but never got the chance. Dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted Rhea in the chest.

**Bang!**

Rhea landed flat on her back. Her heart was thumping loudly in her ears, and all she could see where dark storm clouds billowing above. She raised her head and saw that her entire body was smoking. A momental curling of her toes announced that the bolt had gone straight through her and blasted off her shoe. There was tingling in her left foot.

The storm spirits were laughing. The winds raged. Piper was screaming definitely, but it all sounded tiny and far away.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rhea saw Coach Hedge climbing the cliff with Leo on his back. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra storm spirits, but they were just toying with her.

The club went right through their bodies like they weren't there. And Dylan loomed over Rhea.

"Enough," Rhea croaked. She rose unsteadily to her feet. Dylan looked shocked.

"How are you alive?" Dylan's form flickered. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"

"My turn," Rhea said.

She reached in her pocket and pulled out the gold coin. Instinctively, she flipped the coin in the air. When it fell into her palm, it changed. It wasn't a coin anymore, but instead a wickedly sharp double-edged sword. It was all gold—hilt, handle, and blade. The grip felt perfectly in her fingers.

Dylan snarled and backed up. He looked at his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill her!"

The other storm spirits didn't look happy with that order, but they flew at Rhea, their fingers crackling with electricity.

Rhea swung at the first spirit. Her blade passed through it as if it was nothing but air, and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Rhea's blade absorbed the charge. Rhea stepped in—one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder.

Dylan wailed in outrage. He looked down as if expecting his comrades to re-form, but their gold dust remains dispersed in the wind. "Impossible! Who are you, half-blood?"

Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Rhea, how ... ?"

Then Coach Hedge leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour.

"Spirits, fear me!" Hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.

"Curse it, girl!" he snapped at Rhea. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, his hands bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are—I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"

Dylan hissed at them, but Rhea could see fear in his eyes. "You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy all demigods. This war you cannot win."

Above them, the storm exploded into a full-force hurricane. Cracks expanded in the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down, and Rhea had to crouch to keep her balance.

A hole opened in the clouds—a swirling vortex of black and silver.

"The mistress calls me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, will come with me!"

He lunged at Rhea, but Piper tackled the monster from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper somehow managed to connect. Both of them went sprawling. Leo, Rhea, and the Coach surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a fierce wind that knocked them all backward. Rhea and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Piper was thrown off Dylan's back and thrown against the railing, hitting her head with a nasty crack! Leo flew back as well, only he went right over the railing into the canyon below - this time with no hope of grabbing any stray ledges.

Dylan sneered at them all and declared, "I'll settle for this one!"

He grabbed Piper's arm and began to rise, towing the half-conscious girl below him. The wind spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.

Leo was screaming, Piper was thrashing, and Rhea was torn between the two.

Hedge came to a decision. He yelled, "Rhea, go! Save him!", and launched himself at the spirit; lashing out with his hooves and knocking Piper safely to the floor.

Dylan gripped the Coach tightly, and Hedge tried to head-butt him. He kicked him and called him a cupcake. Nothing seemed to work, and they rose into the air, gaining speed.

Coach Hedge shouted down once more, "Save him! I got this!" Then the satyr and the storm spirit spiraled into the clouds and disappeared.

_Save him? _Rhea thought. _He's gone!_

But her body was on auto-pilot. She raced to the railing and jumped over the side.

Rhea wasn't sure if she was scared of heights, but she knew the thought of being smashed against the canyon floor five hundred feet below terrified her. For the first time in this entire episode, she wondered what she expected to accomplish by dying alongside some boy she didn't know. But her body once again ignored her wishes; her arms tucked themselves in and she plummeted down headfirst.

In a heartbeat, she caught up with Leo, who was flailing wildly. She wrapped her arms around his chest, buried herself against his back, and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact.

Leo was still screaming. Icy wind sliced at her cheeks. Images of her body and Leo's mangled and forgotten on the floor below flashed in her mind. She wished desperately for the fall to never stop. So that they would never reached the bottom and make those images come true.

Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze. Leo's scream cut off as quick as snap. There was no more wind pulling at her cheeks, and there was no thunder heard.

Rhea thought that they must be dead, but she hadn't felt any impact.

"Rhea," she heard Leo say hoarsely.

Rhea's eyes opened. They weren't falling. They were floating in midair, a hundred feet above the river.

Leo's body turned, positioning itself so that he could wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into a desperate hug. His nose was buried in Rhea's collarbone, his hot breath blowing against her shoulder. His body was still warm, his heart beating so fast, Rhea could feel it through her clothes.

Rhea felt her cheeks turn red, and her grip on the latino's jacket tightened.

Leo said, "How did you—"

"I didn't," she said. "I think I would know if I could fly..."

_But then again, how can someone who has no memories know anything._

She imagined fly upwards towards the storm.

Leo yelped as they shot a few feet higher. They weren't exactly floating. Rhea could feel the wind resisting against them, pulling at her feet like tugging tides. But at the same time, it was pushing them up, wrapping around her legs and cushioning them from everything else.

"The air is supporting us," she told Leo.

"Well, tell it to support us more! Get us out of here!"

Rhea imagined flying up towards Piper on skywalk, landing next to her as light as a feather.

Up the two of them flew like a missile, bursting through the top of the canyon and landing on the cracked skywalk below.

For a minute, the two of them clung to each other, trying to get used to the feeling of land again. Then Leo pulled away and stumbled a foot away from her, hands coming up to pull at his curls.

"What happened? The tornado guy, the gold sword ... I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"

Oh right, the sword. It was thrown from Rhea's hands when Dylan had pushed them all back. Rhea looked around and saw it lying only a few feet away. She walked towards it and picked it up. On a hunch, she flipped it in the air. It landed as a coin once again in her hands.

"Right, definitely hallucinating." Leo watched her with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Where's Piper?" Rhea asked.

The girl was lying on her face in the same spot where she was dropped earlier. Rhea crouched beside her and turned her upwards. Her hair was glittered with golden monster dust and she was soaked to the bone, but at least she was alive.

Piper groaned. "What happened?"

"That's what I want to know." Leo placed his hands on his hips and looked down at Rhea with a glare.

Rhea chose to ignore him. She asked, "Where's Coach Hedge?"

Piper pointed straight up. "Never came down.."

"Then he's gone," said Rhea with finality.

Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Rhea, those things—"

"Venti," she corrected. "Storm spirits."

"Okay. You acted like ... like you'd seen them before. Who are you?"

Rhea shook her head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."

The storm had faded away into the distance now. The sun was shining again, but Rhea didn't feel its warm rays at all. She stood and pushed her wet bangs out of her eyes.

"Before all this happened, when I was talking to Coach Hedge, he said something about having to protect three people. I think he meant us."

"But why?" asked Piper. She seemed to think for a minute before saying, "When Dylan turned into a..." Piper shuddered. "He called us... what, demigods?"

Leo stripped from his jacket and tossed it to the ground. "Don't know what demi means, but I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"

"Not funny," Piper muttered bitterly.

"I'm always funny," Leo pointed a finger at her, "But this time I wasn't making a joke."

A low cracking noise sounding beneath their feet. The cracks in the skywalk were lengthening, spreading enough to cause Rhea unease.

"We need to get off this thing," she told the others. "Maybe I can-"

"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up and tell me that those aren't flying horses and I'm simply hallucinating this entire thing."

At first, Rhea thought Leo was joking. Then she looked up and saw a dark shape descending from the east—too slow for a plane, too large for a bird. As it got closer she could see a pair of winged animals—gray, four-legged, exactly like horses—except each one had a twenty-foot wingspan. And they were pulling a brightly painted box with two wheels: a chariot.

"Reinforcements," she said. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."

"Extraction squad?" Leo ran a hand down his face. "That sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us to?" Piper asked as she got up.

Rhea watched as the chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk. The flying horses tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. Two teenagers stood in the chariot—a tall blond girl, maybe a little older than Rhea, and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. She pulled out a knife and ran toward trio while the bulky dude was reigning in the horses.

"Where is she?" the girl demanded. Her gray eyes were fierce and a little startling.

"Where's who?" Rhea asked.

She frowned like her answer was unacceptable. Then she turned to Leo and Piper. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

The Coach's first name was Gleeson? Rhea might've laughed if the morning hadn't already been so weird and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?

Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some ... tornado things."

"Venti," Rhea corrected again. "Storm spirits."

The blond girl arched an eyebrow. "You mean anemoi thuellai? That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

Rhea did her best to explain, though it was hard to meet those intense gray eyes. About halfway through the story, the other guy from the chariot came over. He stood there glaring at them, his arms crossed. He had a tattoo of a rainbow on his biceps, which seemed a little unusual.

When Rhea had finished her story, the blond girl didn't look satisfied. "No, no, no! She told me she would be here. She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer."

"Annabeth," the bald guy grunted. "Check it out." He pointed at Rhea's feet.

Rhea hadn't thought much about it, but she was still missing his left shoe. Her foot was burnt as black as charcoal, but she felt fine.

"The girl with one shoe," said the bald dude. "She's the answer."

"No, Butch," the girl insisted. "She can't be. I was tricked." She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?" she screamed. "What have you done with her?"

The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.

"Annabeth," said the bald dude, Butch, "we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."

She fumed for a moment. "Fine." she fixed Rhea with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later."

She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.

Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? What's going on?"

"Seriously," Leo agreed.

"We have to get you out of here," Butch said. "I'll explain on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with her." Rhea gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

Butch hesitated. "Annabeth's okay. You gotta cut her some slack. She had a vision telling her to come here, to find a girl with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."

"What problem?" Piper asked.

"She's been looking for one of our campers, who's been missing three days," Butch said. "She's going out of her mind with worry. She'd hoped she'd be here."

"Who?" Rhea asked.

"Her sister," Butch said. "A girl named Andy Jackson."


	3. Burn, Crash, Wreck

***Piper***

Piper prides herself on many things. Her smarts, patience, and ability to keep her sanity whenever in the presence of one Leo Valdez were only a couple of them. But above all, Piper prided herself on knowing everything there is to know about her friends.

She could be in the middle of working through an infuriating line of letters that flew off the page and tumbled through the air in one eighties, and still manage to blab about Leo's allergies and why he hates the smell of mint. She could be half asleep at breakfast and still manage to point out the reason why Rhea chooses to use strawberry scented shampoo instead of floral.

She knew everything about them.

But after an hour of coaches-turned-goats, flirting-jerks-turned-monster, and Rhea-somehow-fighting-them-off-with-a-sword-and-managing-to-survive-an-attack-with-lightning, she had to wonder if that was really true.

Piper gripped onto the edge of the chariot, standing to the back with Leo and Rhea. The golden-haired girl, Annabeth, and the buff dude, Butch, were riding in front, backs turned to them and faces close as they whispered to each other. Every once in a while, Annabeth would look back and send a withering glare towards Rhea. The phrase "if looks could kill" ran through Piper's mind.

Speaking of Rhea. The smaller girl was standing just beside her. Her blonde hair was windblown, flowing behind her like golden flames. She was standing tall, looking exhausted but determined to stay awake. Her electric blue eyes were pinned on the horizon. Her shoulder brushed against Leo's like always.

They made quite the pair. Leo - impish, handsome, protective, and endearingly sweet. Rhea - confident, ambiguous, playful, and stunningly gorgeous. In the setting sun light blazed around them, they looked picturesque together, like a real-life Paris and Helen.

Jealousy bubbled in Piper's gut, and she turned away before she said something she would regret.

_Everything you've ever cherished will disappear. One by one._

A shiver ran up Piper's spine. Those words still haunted her despite the fact that her nightmare had occurred a week ago. She never told anyone about it, too embarrassed to even think of Rhea finding out. And now, she didn't even have her.

Rhea - her best friend, her sister in all but blood, her crush - hadn't looked back once to check her over, to see if she was alright. In fact, Rhea was completely ignoring her, like she wasn't even there.

It was so frustrating and unfair that Piper wanted to scream!

A whole month spent gathering the courage to befriend the cute blonde; another three carving her place into the blonde's life and side; and another two spent watching through heartbreak as the love of her life was taken by none other her infuriating brother - all for nothing!

Everything, all the memories and secrets and anything else that branded itself into Piper's mind, was wiped into nothing. Rhea couldn't remember anything. All the secrets they shared, the confessions they made, the serious and hurtful confrontation they had over Piper's feelings and how, even though she loved her, Rhea wasn't interested in having a relationship with someone who's...

But it seemed like, with Leo, nothing has changed. Still glued at the hip. Still fitting perfectly together like a puzzle while Piper floats outside their intimate bubble like a fool.

Piper's fists clenched and she gritted her teeth. She breathed in and out to calm herself.

Meanwhile, Leo spoke up. "Sooo, where exactly are you taking us?"

"To a safe place," Annabeth said stonily. "A haven for half-bloods like us."

Half-bloods...God Piper hated that word.

"Like what?" she snapped at the girl angrily. "Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?"

Annabeth turned her head and locked eyes with Piper. Her gray orbs were intense and seemed to dissect her from the inside out.

"She meant half-mortal, half-god. We're demigods." Rhea answered from the side. Piper tore her eyes away from Annabeth, and looked towards her crush.

Annabeth frowned. "You seem to know a lot, Rhea. Though with a name like that, it's not that shocking. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."

Leo choked. "Your mom is the rainbow goddess?"

"Got a problem with that?" Butch said.

"No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows. Very macho."

"Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth explained. "He gets along great with the pegasi."

"Rainbows, ponies," Leo muttered.

"I'm gonna toss you off this chariot," Butch warned.

"Demigods," Piper repeated. "You mean you think you're ... you think we're-"

Lightning flashed and the chariot shuddered. Rhea yelled, "Left wheel on fire!"

Piper looked and sure enough, the wheel was burning. Flames enveloped its' figure, growing larger more and more by the second.

Looking behind her, Piper could see dark shapes forming in the clouds. Storm spirits, a lot more than just three, were spiraling towards the chariot, looking more like horses than angels.

Piper pointed and said, "Why do they—"

"_Anemoi _come in different shapes," Annabeth cut her off. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."

Butch flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. Piper's stomach crawled into her throat. Her vision went black, and when it came back to normal, they were in a totally different place.

A cold, gray ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was a green valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Piper saw a cluster of buildings like ancient Greek temples, a big blue mansion, ball courts, a lake, and a climbing wall that seemed to be on fire. But before she could really process all she was seeing, their wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.

Annabeth and Butch tried to maintain control. The pegasi labored to hold the chariot in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of five people was just too much.

"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"

"Are you crazy?!" Leo screamed at her.

"Trust me," was his only reply.

Piper shut her eyes tight as the water came closer-

**BOOM**.

The biggest shock was the cold. The wind expelled from her lungs, and her ears popped painfully.

For a moment, Piper stilled in shock. But then she forced her eyes open - and promptly screamed.

Two girls with long black hair and glowing yellow eyes were staring at her, sitting Indian style and in the midst of playing a hand-clapping game on the seafloor like it was nothing. They wore orange shirts and shorts. They couldn't be older than fourteen.

One of the girls pouted as stuck her tongue out at Piper. The other grimaced and swam towards her, wrapping her arms around Piper's waist and pushing her to the surface.

Piper landed on the shore, gasping and shivering.

Annabeth hauled her up and steadied her before stepping back and letting a group of four kids suffocate her with blankets. Apparently kids fell into the lake a lot, because some of the campers ran up with big bronze leaf blower–looking things and blasted Piper with hot air; and in about two seconds her clothes were dry.

There were at least twenty campers milling around—the youngest maybe nine, the oldest college age, eighteen or nineteen—and all of them had orange T-shirts like Annabeth's.

Nearby, Butch stood in the lake, cutting the wrecked harnesses off the pegasi. The horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere. Rhea and Leo were already on shore.

Piper looked back at the water and saw those strange girls just below the surface, their hair floating in the current. They gave her a dismissive wave before disappearing into the depths. A second later the wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed nearby with a wet crunch.

"Dammit Annabeth!" A guy with a bow and quiver on his back pushed through the crowd. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed. "I'll get it fixed, I promise."

Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Rhea. "These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" Leo asked.

Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Andy?"

"No," Annabeth admitted.

The campers moaned and muttered, looking upset. Piper had no idea who this girl Andy was, but her disappearance seemed to be a big deal.

Another girl stepped forward—tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect makeup. Somehow she managed to make jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous. She glanced at Leo, eyed Rhea up and down like she was worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at Piper as if she were a week-old burrito that had just been pulled out of a Dumpster. She huffed and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well," the girl said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."

Leo snorted, not amused. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," Rhea said. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

Piper had the same questions, but a knot of uneasiness grew in her belly. She shifted on her feet, glaring at the ground. Worth the trouble...if only they knew what the nightmare was about. If only they knew what she dreamed.

Annabeth placed a hand on her shoulder and addressed the girl sharply. "All demigods are worth saving, Drew. And Rhea, I promise all of your questions will be answered."

"But you didn't bring Andy back," Drew continued to speak, "Instead you brought them" she spat out the word like vile curse.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped-"

"Hey," Piper said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

Piper stepped forward, ready to smack her, but Annabeth said, "Piper, stop."

Piper did. Not because she was scared of Drew, but because Annabeth had tightened her grip in a clear warning. The girl was strong, and Piper wisely chose to obey.

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Leo asked exasperated.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first Piper thought Leo said something wrong. Then she realized their faces were bathed in a strange red light, as if someone had lit a torch behind her. She turned and almost forgot how to breathe.

Floating over Leo's head was a blazing holographic image —a fiery hammer.

"That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."

"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"

"Butch, shut up," Annabeth hissed. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"

"By a god," Rhea interrupted. "That's the symbol of _Vulcan_, isn't it?"

All eyes turned to her.

"Rhea," Annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure."

"_Vulcan_?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"

"_Vulcan _is the Roman name for _Hephaestus_," Annabeth said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."

The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. "The god of what? Who?"

Annabeth turned to the guy with the bow. "Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Cabin Nine."

"Sure, Annabeth."

"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a _Vulcan_!"

"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him toward the cabins.

Annabeth turned her attention back to Rhea. Usually Piper didn't like it when anyone checked out her crush, but Annabeth didn't seem to care that Rhea was a real-life angel. Those piercing orbs studied Rhea more like she was a complicated blueprint. Finally she said, "Hold out your arm."

Piper saw what she was looking at, and her eyes widened.

Rhea had taken off her windbreaker after her dip in the lake, leaving her arms bare, and on the inside of her right forearm was a tattoo.

How had Piper never noticed it before? She'd looked at Rhea's arms a million times. The tattoo couldn't have just appeared, but it was darkly etched, impossible to miss: a dozen straight lines like a barcode, and over that an eagle with the letters SPQR.

"I've never seen marks like this," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"

Rhea shook her head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."

The other campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at Rhea's tattoo. The marks seemed to bother them a lot—almost like a declaration of war.

"They look burned into your skin," Annabeth noticed.

"They were," Rhea said. Then she winced as if her head was aching. "I mean ... I think so. I don't remember."

No one said anything. It was clear the campers saw Annabeth as the leader. They were waiting for her verdict.

"She needs to go straight to Chiron," Annabeth decided. "Drew, would you—"

"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Rhea's. "This way, sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's ... an interesting guy." She flashed a brilliant smile at her captive, and started leading the way towards the big blue house on the hill.

The crowd began to disperse, until only Annabeth and Piper were left.

"Who's Chiron?" Piper asked. "Is Rhea in some kind of trouble?"

Annabeth hesitated. "Good question, Piper. Come on, I'll give you a tour. We need to talk."


	4. Unwanted Truths

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but changes to the plot.**

* * *

***Piper***

_IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT ANNABETH'S HEART WASN'T IN THE TOUR. _Sure the girl had pointed out some pretty cool places like the Archery Field, Pegasi Stalls, and Fire Wall, but she hadn't smile once the whole time. She lacked passion too, her voice staying hard and flat throughout the entire time. She answered Piper's question absently. When the other campers saw them coming, they wore this sympathetic look on their faces, like they knew something Piper didn't. Something important.

There were a lot of campers around too. Groups of them would pass by holding weapons. Some were huddled together on the steps of their cabins, while others chased each other around with airy laughter and mocking words. The campers, Annabeth had told Piper, were year-long attenders, and while Camp Half-blood (and isn't that such a non-offensive name) was a summer camp, so many had chosen to stay and train that it was crowded, even in the winter.

"You'll have that choice as well," she said. "Just remember that once you leave the safety of camp, you're on your own when it comes to monster attacks."

"Monsters like Dylan." At Annabeth's raised eyebrow, Piper elaborated, "The storm spirit."

"Yes, but much more powerful. More often than not, you'll have a hoard of them following you. Sometimes the monsters vary. Other times they'll come in packs. The stronger your parent is, the more monsters you'll attract."

"How can they find us?"

"By following your smell."

"I don't smell!" snapped Piper. Though she couldn't help raising her jacket sleeve and giving it a little sniff.

"Not smell as in stink," Annabeth reassured, "Smell as in...well...take me, for example. My mother is Athena, one of the Olympians. She's immensely powerful, so monsters are attracted to me more than say the child of a minor god. My smell is probably more powerful than yours. Though if my suspicions are right, we're on the same level of power."

"Suspicions? You think you know who my mom is?" Piper asked.

Annabeth shrugged. She was playing with the clay necklace around her neck, fiddling with the golden ring hanging from the middle. "Maybe. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I have a decent enough guess."

"Who?" Piper demanded.

Her heart was beginning to pound in her chest. She leaned forward in anticipation, throat going dry. Her father never talked about her mother, even when he had time for her. The only thing she got out of him was that she was immensely beautiful, devious, and that their love was forbidden. Piper could remember how she had searched the internet for days on end in hopes of gathering a picture of her parents together. But all she found were articles of scarce rumors of affairs and how Piper McLean was a mistake that happened during a one night stand. (That exact month she was expelled from her prissy private school for punching a girl who told her that exact same thing).

Annabeth avoided the question. "You're taking this pretty calmly."

"Let's just say that this makes way more sense than what happened on the skywalk."

That and the nightmare was still vivid behind her eyes.

_Soon they will find you, demigod, that voice had rumbled. When they do, follow our directions. Cooperate, and your father might live._

"Now about my mom-"

"I can't help you with that, Piper. I won't give you hope, especially with this. I only have an educated guess." Annabeth shoved her hands into her back pockets. "Besides you're what - fifteen? In a day's time you'll be claimed like all those thirteen and older are. That was the deal."

"Deal?"

"Last summer there was this big war going on, and in the end we won. Andy was given the gift of immortality since she led us to victory, but refused and made the Gods promise to claim their children after they come of age instead. Like what happened with Leo."

Piper imagined having a flaming hammer glowing above her head, all the campers staring at her in judgmental silence. She grimaced. That didn't look so pleasant. "Why thirteen?"

"The older you get," Annabeth said, "the more monsters notice you, try to kill you. 'Round thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into the schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."

"Like Coach Hedge?"

Annabeth nodded. "He's—he was a _satyr_: half man, half goat. _Satyrs_ work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right."

Piper had no trouble believing Coach Hedge was half goat. She'd seen the guy eat. She'd never liked the coach much, but she couldn't believe he'd sacrificed himself to save them.

"What happened to him?" she asked. "When we went up into the clouds, did he...is he gone for good?"

"Hard to say." Annabeth's expression was pained. "Storm spirits...difficult to battle. Even our best weapons, Celestial bronze, will pass right through them unless you can catch them by surprise."

"Rhea's sword just turned them to dust," Piper remembered.

"She was lucky, then. If you hit a monster just right, you can dissolve them, send their essence back to _Tartarus_."

"_Tartarus_?"

"A huge abyss in the Underworld, where the worst monsters come from. Kind of like a bottomless pit of evil. Anyway, once monsters dissolve, it usually takes months, even years before they can re-form again. But since this storm spirit, Dylan, got away—well, I don't know why he'd keep Hedge alive. Hedge was a protector, though. He knew the risks. _Satyrs_ don't have mortal souls. He'll be reincarnated as a tree or a flower or something."

Piper tried to imagine Coach Hedge as a clump of very angry pansies. That made her feel even worse. Hedge had died to get her here safely. Her mom's cabin was here somewhere, which meant she had brothers and sisters. More people she'd have to betray.

Do what we tell you or the consequences will be painful, the voice had said.

She tucked her hands under her arms, trying to stop them from shaking.

"It'll be okay," Annabeth promised gently, mistaking the shaking for nerves. "You have friends here. We've all been through a lot of weird stuff. We know what you're going through."

Piper snorted. "I've been kicked out of five different schools the past five years. My dad's running out of places to put me."

"Only five?" Annabeth didn't sound like she was teasing. "Piper, we've all been labeled troublemakers. I ran away from home when I was seven."

"Seriously?" Piper couldn't help but ask. Annabeth smirked.

"Oh, yeah. Most of us are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or dyslexia, or both—"

"Leo's ADHD," Piper said.

"Right. It's because we're hardwired for battle. Restless, impulsive—we don't fit in with regular kids. You should hear how much trouble Andy—" Her smirk faded. "Anyway, demigods get a bad rep. How'd you get in trouble?"

Usually when someone asked that question, Piper started a fight, or changed the subject, or caused some kind of distraction. But for some reason she found herself telling the truth.

"I steal stuff," she said. "Well, not really steal..."

"Is your family poor?"

Piper laughed bitterly. "Not even. I did it...I don't know why. For attention, I guess. My dad never had time for me unless I got in trouble."

Annabeth nodded. "I can relate. But you said you didn't really steal? What do you mean?"

"Well ... nobody ever believes me. The police, teachers—even the people I took stuff from: they're so embarrassed, they'll deny what happened. But the truth is, I don't steal anything. I just ask people for things. And they give me stuff. Even a BMW convertible. I just asked. And the dealer said, 'Sure. Take it.' Later, he realized what he'd done, I guess. Then the police came after me."

Piper waited. She was used to people calling her a liar, but when she looked up, Annabeth just nodded.

"Interesting. If your dad were the god, I'd say you're a child of Hermes, the god of thieves. He can be pretty convincing. But your dad is mortal..."

"Right," Piper agreed.

Annabeth nodded again. "That raises my guess to a hundred percent accuracy. Now we just need your parent to claim you."

"Yeah, that sounds fun."

"There's been way more dramatic claims than just having a symbol appear over your head."

"Somehow, with my luck, I doubt that." Piper ran a hand through her hair. "Next thing you know, I'll be doused in pink and wearing some weird dress with globs of makeup on my face."

Annabeth stared at her wide-eyed for a moment, before letting out a loud snort. She covered her mouth to hold in laughter.

"What?" asked Piper annoyed.

"N-nothing," Annabeth laughed. "Just keep that in mind for later."

Whatever Piper was going to say, faded on tongue when Annabeth sent her a crooked smile.

Now Piper was still very much in love with Rhea, but she would have to dumb not to see how attractive Annabeth is. Her hair was darker than Rhea's and fell in untamable curls down her back. Her face was more slender giving her an aristocratic appearance. Her body was lean and fairly tanned. She was an inch or two taller than Piper. When she laughed her eyes scrunched up and dimples formed on her cheeks. In the sunlight she looked very pretty - beautiful even.

Piper flushed and looked away from the view.

After a minute Annabeth's collected herself and straightened her posture. She was still smiling. She said, "Come on. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

They hiked up a hill on the far end of camp until they reached a cave at the top. Bones and old swords littered the ground. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered in a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes. It looked like the set for some kind of twisted puppet show.

"What's in there?" Piper asked.

Annabeth poked her head inside, then sighed and closed the curtains. "Nothing, right now. A friend's place. I've been expecting her for a few days, but so far, nothing."

"Your friend lives in a cave?"

Annabeth replied. "Actually, her family has a luxury condo in Queens, and she goes to a finishing school in Connecticut. But when she's here at camp, yeah, she lives in the cave. She's our oracle, tells the future. I was hoping she could help me—"

"Find Andy," Piper guessed.

It seemed those were all the words she needed to say. Annabeth's whole demeanor changed. Her shoulders sagged, her face tightened, her eyes turned downcast, and she collapsed onto a rock a few inches from where she stood. She hunched into herself, elbows resting on her knees and the heels of her hands digging into her eye sockets. She looked so pitiful and full of grief, Piper felt like a voyeur.

She looked away from the grieving demigoddess. Her eyes drifted to the crest of the hill, where a single pine tree dominated the skyline. Something glittered in its lowest branch—like a fuzzy gold bath mat.

No, not a bath mat. It was a sheep's fleece.

_Okay_, Piper thought. Greek camp. They've got a replica of the Golden Fleece.

Then she noticed the base of the tree. At first she thought it was wrapped in a pile of massive purple cables. But the cables had reptilian scales, clawed feet, and a snakelike head with yellow eyes and smoking nostrils.

"That's—a dragon," she stammered. "That's the actual Golden Fleece?"

Annabeth made a gesture that seemed like a nod, but it was clear she wasn't really listening. She rocked back and forth once, then took a shaky breath and straightened. She rested her hands on her knees and stared into thin air, not looking at Piper. "Sorry. A little tired."

"You look ready to drop," Piper said. "How long have you been searching for your friend?"

"Six days, nine hours, and about twelve - thirteen minutes."

"And you've got no idea what happened to her?"

Annabeth shook her head miserably. "We were so excited because we both started school break early. We met up at camp on Tuesday, and figured we had three weeks together. It was going to be great. Then after the campfire, she—she kissed me on the cheek good night, went back to her cabin, and in the morning, she was gone. We searched the whole camp. We contacted her mom. We've tried to reach her every way we know how. Nothing. She just disappeared."

Piper was thinking: six days ago. The same night she'd had her dream. "How long have you known each other?"

"Years," Annabeth said. "We met at camp and just clicked, I guess. She's my g - I mean, best friend."

"I thought she was your sister," Piper questioned, remembering what Butch told them on the skywalk.

"We might as well be," Annabeth agreed. "I can't imagine being as close to anyone like I am with her."

"I feel the same about Rhea," Piper said.

Annabeth winced and looked at her. "Piper...about that. Maybe you should sit down."

Piper knew where this was going. Panic started building inside her, like her lungs were filling with water. "Look, I know Rhea thought—she thought she just appeared at our school today. But that's not true. I've known her for six months."

"Piper," Annabeth said sadly. "It's the Mist."

"Missed ... what?"

"M-i-s-t. It's a kind of veil separating the mortal world from the magic world. Mortal minds—they can't process strange stuff like gods and monsters, so the Mist bends reality. It makes mortals see things in a way they can understand —like their eyes might just skip over this valley completely, or they might look at that dragon and see a pile of cables."

Piper swallowed. "No. You said yourself that I'm not a regular mortal. I'm a demigod."

"Even demigods can be affected. I've seen it lots of times. Monsters infiltrate some place like a school, pass themselves off as humans, and everyone thinks they remember that person. They believe she's always been around. The Mist can change memories, even create memories of things that never happened—"

"But Rhea's not a monster!" Piper insisted. "She's a human girl, or demigod, or whatever you want to call her. My memories aren't fake. They're so real. The time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire. The time Rhea and I watched a meteor shower on the dorm roof and she told me that she wanted to ask Leo out, so I..."

She found herself rambling, telling Annabeth about her whole year at Wilderness School. The good and the bad. The happy and the hurtful. She had even spilled her crush on Rhea and how helping her and Leo get together had in turn crushed her.

Annabeth listened without interruption. Then, once Piper had nothing else to say, she said, "Piper, your memories are sharper than most. I'll admit that, and I don't know why that is. But if you know her so well-"

"I do!"

"Then you won't mind if I ask you a few personal questions." The request sounded more like a demand. Yet, Piper was still ready to try anything to prove her point, so she nodded. Besides, she knew everything there was to know about Rhea.

"Go ahead then." she crossed her arms over her chest with a scowl.

"When is her birthday?"

"July First," Piper said matter of factly.

"And her parents?"

"They were no-good drunks who used her for fame alone." Piper spat with all the venom she could muster. "And I don't see how any of this proves that-"

"Then where is she from?"

Piper froze mid-sentence. She racked her brain, but she couldn't seem to remember the answer. "She must have told me, but—"

"Did you ever notice her tattoo before today? Did she ever tell you anything about her friends, or her last school?"

"Of course she did!" she snapped at her. But even while she said it, Piper knew it wasn't true.

She couldn't remember anything past the basics. Birthdays, favorite colors, typical everyday remarks that could be turned into small talk - those were the questions that she could answer in split second. But anything else...

"I—I just can't remember exactly what she said right now, but—"

"Piper, what's her last name?"

Her mind went blank. She didn't know Rhea's last name. It was the easiest question, yet she couldn't answer it. How could that be?

She started to cry. She felt like a total fool, but she sat down on the rock next to Annabeth and just fell to pieces. It was too much. Did everything that was good in her stupid, miserable life have to be taken away?

Yes. Yes, unless you do exactly what we say.

"Hey," Annabeth said as she laid a hand on her back. "We'll figure it out. Rhea's here now. Who knows? Maybe it'll work out in the end."

Not likely, Piper thought. Not if the dream had told her the truth. But she couldn't say that.

She brushed a tear from her cheek. "You brought me up here so no one would see me blubbering, huh?"

Annabeth shrugged. "I figured it would be easier for you than Leo. You may have lost your best friend, but Rhea is Leo's girlfriend. His lover. I know how painful that can be, and I figured pointing this out to him myself can only end in disaster."

"You wanted to experiment on me - see how well I take it before going to the one it'll hurt the most." Piper realized. "That's - that's actually a really good idea."

"Athena always has a plan." Annabeth said a thin smile.

"But I still can't believe...I know we had some connection. And now it's just gone, like she doesn't even recognize me. If she really did just show up today, then why? How'd she get there? Why can't she remember anything?"

"That, Piper, is the million dollar question. I just hope we'll get answers soon." Annabeth's voice sounded wistful. And Piper knew she was thinking about her own best friend, gone and probably stuck in the same situation - no matter how crazy this seemed - as Rhea.

Then Annabeth and dusted off herself saying, "Now that we have that out the way, I think it's best for us to finish the tour so you can have some time to yourself."

Oh, right. Annabeth was Piper's guide around camp. She just wanted to get business out of the way so everything can be settled. She probably didn't want to see Piper's breakdown. Much less have her see one of her own.

"Yeah." she stood and dusted off herself as well.

Piper gazed at the crazy assortment of cabins in the valley. Her new home, a family who supposedly understood her—but soon they'd be just another bunch of people she'd disappointed, just another place she'd been kicked out of.

You'll betray them for us or you'll lose everything.

She didn't have a choice. The voice had said so.

"Yeah," she repeated. "I'm ready."

On the central green, a group of campers was playing basketball. They were incredible shots. Nothing bounced off the rim. Three-pointers went in automatically.

"Apollo's cabin," Annabeth explained. "Bunch of showoffs with missile weapons—arrows, basketballs."

They walked past a central fire pit, where two guys were hacking at each other with swords.

"Real blades?" Piper noted. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"That's sort of the point," Annabeth said. "Uh, sorry. Bad pun. That's my cabin over there. Number Six." She nodded to a gray building with a carved owl over the door. Through the open doorway, Piper could see bookshelves, weapon displays, and one of those computerized SMART Boards they have in classrooms. A girl and a boy, both looking exactly like Annabeth with their curly blonde hair, were drawing a map that looked like a battle diagram.

"Speaking of blades," Annabeth said, "You'll need one."

She led Piper around the side of the cabin, to a big metal shed that looked like it was meant for gardening tools. Annabeth unlocked it, and Piper saw that was lined with all sorts of weapons—from swords to spears to clubs like Coach Hedge's.

"Every demigod needs a weapon," Annabeth began. "Lord Hephaestus makes the best, but we have a pretty good selection, too. Athena is all about strategy—matching the right weapon to the right person. Let's see ..."

Piper didn't feel much like shopping for deadly objects, but she knew Annabeth was trying to do something nice for her.

Annabeth handed her a massive sword, which Piper could hardly lift.

"No," they both said at once.

Annabeth rummaged a little farther in the shed and brought out something else.

"A shotgun?" Piper asked.

"Mossberg 500." she checked the pump action like it was no big deal. "Don't worry. It doesn't hurt humans. It's modified to shoot Celestial bronze, so it only kills monsters."

"Um, I don't think that's my style," Piper said.

"Mmm, yeah," the other agreed. "Too flashy."

She put the shotgun back and started poking through a rack of crossbows when something in the corner of the shed caught Piper's eye.

"What is that?" she said. "A knife?"

The blonde dug it out and blew the dust off the scabbard. It looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in centuries.

"I don't know, Piper." Annabeth sounded uneasy. "I don't think you want this one. Swords are usually better."

"You use a knife." Piper pointed to the one strapped to Annabeth's belt.

"Yeah, but..." she shrugged. "Well, take a look if you want."

The sheath was worn black leather, bound in bronze. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy. The polished wood handle fit beautifully in Piper's hand. When she unsheathed it, she found a triangular blade eighteen inches long—bronze gleaming like it had been polished yesterday. The edges were deadly sharp. Her reflection in the blade caught her by surprise. She looked older, more serious, not as scared as she felt.

"It suits you," Archimedes admitted. "That kind of blade is called a parazonium. It was mostly ceremonial, carried by high-ranking officers in the Greek armies. It showed you were a person of power and wealth, but in a fight, it could protect you just fine."

"I like it," Piper said. "Why didn't you think it was right?"

Annabeth exhaled. "That blade has a long story. Most people would be afraid to claim it. Its first owner ... well, things didn't turn out too well for her. Her name was Helen."

Piper let that sink in. "Wait, you mean The Helen? Helen of Troy?"

Annabeth nodded.

Suddenly Piper felt like she should be handling the dagger with surgical gloves. "And it's just sitting in your toolshed?"

"We're surrounded by Ancient Greek stuff," she made it sound as if it was no big deal. "This isn't a museum. Weapons like that—they're meant to be used. They're our heritage as demigods. That was a wedding present from Menelaus, Helen's first husband. She named the dagger _Katoptris_."

"Meaning?"

"Mirror," Annabeth said. "Looking glass. Probably because that's the only thing Helen used it for. I don't think it's ever seen battle."

Piper looked at the blade again. For a moment, her own image stared up at her, but then the reflection changed. She saw flames, and a grotesque face like something carved from bedrock. She heard the same laughter as in her dream. She saw her dad in chains, tied to a post in front of a roaring bonfire.

She dropped the blade.

"Piper?" Annabeth shouted to the Apollo kids on the court, "Medic! I need some help over here!"

"No, it's—it's okay," Piper managed.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I just..." She had to control herself. With trembling fingers, she picked up the dagger. "I just got overwhelmed. So much is happening today. But...I want to keep the dagger, if that's okay."

Annabeth hesitated. Then she waved off the Apollo kids. "Okay, if you're sure. You turned really pale, there. I thought you were having a seizure or something."

"I'm fine," Piper promised, though her heart was still racing. "Is there...um, a phone at camp? Can I call my dad?"

Annabeth's gray eyes were almost as unnerving as the dagger blade. She seemed to be calculating a million possibilities, trying to read Piper's thoughts.

"We aren't allowed phones," she said. "Most demigods, if they use a cell phone, it's like sending up a signal, letting monsters know where you are. But...I've got one." she slipped it out of his pocket. "Kind of against the rules, but if it can be our secret..."

Piper took it gratefully, trying not to let her hands shake. She stepped away from Annabeth and turned to face the commons area.

She called her dad's private line, even though she knew what would happen. Voice mail. She'd been trying for every day, ever since the dream. Wilderness School only allowed phone privileges once a day, but she'd called every evening, and gotten nowhere.

Reluctantly she dialed the other number. Her dad's personal assistant answered immediately. "Mr. McLean's office."

"Jane," Piper said, gritting her teeth. "Where's my dad?"

Jane was silent for a moment, probably wondering if she could get away with hanging up. "Piper, I thought you weren't supposed to call from school."

"Maybe I'm not at school," Piper said. "Maybe I ran away to live among the woodland creatures."

"Mmm." Jane didn't sound concerned. "Well, I'll tell him you called."

"Where is he?"

"Out."

"You don't know, do you?" Piper lowered her voice, hoping Archimedes was too nice to eavesdrop. "When are you going to call the police, Jane? He could be in trouble."

"Piper, we are not going to turn this into a media circus. I'm sure he's fine. He does take off occasionally. He always comes back."

"So it's true. You don't know—"

"I have to go, Piper," Jane snapped. "Enjoy school."

The line went dead. Piper cursed. She walked back to Annabeth and handed her the phone.

"No luck?" the girl asked.

Piper didn't answer. She didn't trust herself not to start crying again.

Annabeth glanced at the phone display and asked. "Your last name is McLean? Sorry, it's not my business. But that sounds really familiar."

"Common name."

"Yeah, I guess. What does your dad do?"

"He's got a degree in the arts," Piper said automatically. "He's a Cherokee artist."

Her standard response. Not a lie, just not the whole truth. Most people, when they heard that, figured her dad sold Indian souvenirs at a roadside stand on a reservation. Sitting Bull bobble-heads, wampum necklaces, Big Chief tablets—that kind of thing.

"Oh." Annabeth didn't look convinced, but she put the phone away. "You feeling okay? Want to keep going?"

Piper fastened her new dagger to her belt and promised herself that later, when she was alone, she'd figure out how it worked. "Sure," she said. "I want to see everything."

All the cabins were cool, but none of them struck Piper as hers. No burning signs—wombats or otherwise—appeared over her head.

Cabin Eight was entirely silver and glowed like moonlight.

"Artemis?" Piper guessed.

"You know Greek mythology," Annabeth said.

"I did some reading when my dad was working on a project last year."

"I thought he did Cherokee art."

Piper bit back a curse. "Oh, right. But—you know, he does other stuff too."

Piper thought she'd blown it: McLean, Greek mythology. Thankfully, Annabeth didn't seem to make the connection.

"Anyway," she continued, "Artemis is goddess of the moon, goddess of hunting. But no campers. Artemis was an eternal maiden, so she doesn't have any kids."

"Oh." That kind of bummed Piper out. She'd always liked the stories of Artemis, and figured she would make a cool mom.

"Well, there are the Hunters of Artemis," Annabeth amended. "They visit sometimes. They're not the children of Artemis, but they're her handmaidens—this band of immortal teenage girls who adventure together and hunt monsters and stuff."

Piper perked up. "That sounds cool. They get to be immortal?"

"Unless they die in combat, or break their vows. Did I mention they have to swear off love? Not just boys, but girls as well - not very good for the heartbroken, you know. So no dating—ever. For eternity."

"Oh," Piper said. "Never mind."

Annabeth laughed.

They passed the next cabin, Number Ten, which was decorated like a Barbie house with lace curtains, a pink door, and potted carnations in the windows. They walked by the doorway, and the smell of perfume almost made Piper gag.

"Gah, is that where supermodels go to die?"

Annabeth smirked. "Aphrodite's cabin. Goddess of love. Drew is the head counselor."

"Figures," Piper grumbled.

"They're not all bad," her companion said. "The last head counselor we had was great."

"What happened to her?"

Annabeth's expression darkened. "We should keep moving."

They looked at the other cabins, but Piper just got more depressed. She wondered if she could be the daughter of Demeter, the farming goddess. Then again, Piper killed every plant she ever touched. Athena was cool. Or maybe Hecate, the magic goddess. But it didn't really matter. Even here, where everyone was supposed to find a lost parent, she knew she would still end up the unwanted kid. She was not looking forward to the campfire tonight.

"We started with the twelve Olympian gods," Annabeth explained. "Male gods on the left, female on the right. Then last year, we added a whole bunch of new cabins for the other gods who didn't have thrones on Olympus—Hecate, Hades, Iris—"

"What are the two big ones on the end?" Piper asked.

Annabeth frowned. "Zeus and Hera. King and queen of the gods."

Piper headed that way, and Annabeth followed, though she didn't act very excited. The Zeus cabin reminded Piper of a bank. It was white marble with big columns out front and polished bronze doors emblazoned with lightning bolts.

Hera's cabin was smaller but done in the same style, except the doors were carved with peacock feather designs, shimmering in different colors.

Unlike the other cabins, which were all noisy and open and full of activity, the Zeus and Hera cabins looked closed and silent.

"Are they empty?" Piper asked.

Annabeth nodded. "Zeus went a long time without having any children. Well, mostly. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, the eldest brothers among the gods—they're called the Big Three. Their kids are really powerful, really dangerous. For the last seventy years or so, they tried to avoid having demigod children."

"Tried to avoid it?"

"Sometimes they...um, cheated. I've got a friend, Thalia Grace, who's the daughter of Zeus. But she gave up camp life and became a Hunter of Artemis. Andy is the daughter of Poseidon. And there's a kid who shows up sometimes, Nico—son of Hades. Except for them, there are no demigod children of the Big Three gods. At least, not that we know of."

"And Hera?" Piper looked at the peacock-decorated doors. The cabin bothered her, though she wasn't sure why.

"Goddess of marriage." Annabeth's tone was carefully controlled, like she was trying to avoid cursing. "She doesn't have kids with anyone but Zeus. So, yeah, no demigods. The cabin's just honorary."

"She told you to come get us," Piper realized. "But you thought Andy would be there."

"It's probably better I don't talk about it," Annabeth said. "I've got nothing good to say about Hera right now."

Piper looked down the base of the doors. "So who goes in here?"

"No one. The cabin is just honorary, like I said. No one goes in."

"Someone does." Piper pointed at a footprint on the dusty threshold. On instinct, she pushed the doors and they swung open easily.

Annabeth stepped back. "Um, Piper, I don't think we should—"

"We're supposed to do dangerous stuff, right?" And Piper walked inside.

Hera's cabin was not someplace Piper would want to live. It was as cold as a freezer, with a circle of white columns around a central statue of the goddess, ten feet tall, seated on a throne in flowing golden robes. Piper had always thought of Greek statues as white with blank eyes, but this one was brightly painted so it looked almost human—except huge. Hera's piercing eyes seemed to follow Piper.

At the goddess's feet, a fire burned in a bronze brazier. Piper wondered who tended it if the cabin was always empty. A stone hawk sat on Hera's shoulder, and in her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower. The goddess's hair was done in black plaits. Her face smiled, but the eyes were cold and calculating, as if she were saying: Mother knows best. Now don't cross me or I will have to step on you.

There was nothing else in the cabin—no beds, no furniture, no bathroom, no windows, nothing that anyone could actually use to live. For a goddess of home and marriage, Hera's place reminded Piper of a tomb.

No, this wasn't her mom. At least Piper was sure of that. She hadn't come in here because she felt a good connection, but because her sense of dread was stronger here. Her dream—that horrible ultimatum she'd been handed—had something to do with this cabin.

She froze. They weren't alone. Behind the statue, at a little altar in the back, stood a figure covered in a black shawl. Only her hands were visible, palms up. She seemed to be chanting something like a spell or a prayer.

Annabeth gasped. "Rachel?"

The other girl turned. She dropped her shawl, revealing a mane of curly red hair and a freckled face that didn't go with the seriousness of the cabin or the black shawl at all. She looked about seventeen, a totally normal teen in a green blouse and tattered jeans covered with marker doodles. Despite the cold floor, she was barefoot.

"Hey!" She ran to give Annabeth a hug. "I'm so sorry! I came as fast as I could."

They talked for a few minutes about Andy and how there was no news, et cetera, until finally Annabeth remembered Piper, who was standing there feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm being rude," Annabeth apologized. "Rachel, this is Piper, one of the half-bloods we rescued today. Piper, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our oracle."

"The friend who lives in the cave," Piper guessed.

Rachel grinned. "That's me."

"So you're an oracle?" Piper asked. "You can tell the future?"

"More like the future mugs me from time to time," Rachel said. "I speak prophecies. The oracle's spirit kind of hijacks me every once in a while and speaks important stuff that doesn't make any sense to anybody. But yeah, the prophecies tell the future."

"Oh." Piper shifted from foot to foot. "That's cool."

Rachel laughed. "Don't worry. Everybody finds it a little creepy. Even me. But usually I'm harmless."

"You're a demigod?"

"Nope," Rachel said. "Just mortal."

"Then what are you ..." Piper waved her hand around the room.

Rachel's smile faded. She glanced at Annabeth, then back at Piper. "Just a hunch. Something about this cabin and Andy's disappearance. They're connected somehow. I've learned to follow my hunches, especially the last month, since the gods went silent."

"Went silent?" Piper asked.

Rachel frowned at Annabeth. "You haven't told her yet?"

"I had completely forgotten about that," she replied. "Piper, for the last month...well, it's normal for the gods not to talk to their children very much, but usually we can count on some messages now and then. Some of us can even visit Olympus. I spent practically all semester at the Empire State Building."

"Excuse me?"

"The entrance to Mount Olympus these days."

"Oh," Piper said. "Sure, why not?"

"Annabeth was redesigning Olympus after it was damaged in the Titan War," Rachel explained. "He's an amazing architect. You should see the salad bar—"

"Anyway," Annabeth said, "starting about a month ago, Olympus fell silent. The entrance closed, and no one could get in. Nobody knows why. It's like the gods have sealed themselves off. Even my mom won't answer my prayers, and our camp director, _Dionysus_, was recalled."

"Your camp director was the god of...wine?"

"Yeah, it's a—"

"Long story," Piper guessed. "Right. Go on."

"That's it, really," Annabeth said. "Demigods still get claimed, but nothing else. No messages. No visits. No sign the gods are even listening. It's like something has happened —something really bad. Then Andy disappeared."

"And Rhea showed up on our field trip," Piper supplied. "With no memory."

"Who's Rhea?" Rachel asked.

"My—" Piper stopped herself before she could say "friend," but the effort made her chest hurt. "J-just someone I came here with. But Annabeth, you said Hera sent you a dream vision."

"Right," Annabeth said. "The first communication from a god in a month, and it's Hera, the least helpful goddess, and she contacts me, her least favorite demigod. She tells me I'll find out what happened to Andy if I go to the Grand Canyon skywalk and look for a girl with one shoe. Instead, I find you guys, and the girl with one shoe is Rhea. It doesn't make sense."

"Something bad is happening," Rachel agreed. She looked at Piper, and Piper felt an overwhelming desire to tell them about her dream, to confess that she knew what was happening—at least part of the story. And the bad stuff was only beginning.

"Guys," she said. "I—I need to—"

Before she could continue, Rachel's body stiffened. Her eyes began to glow with a greenish light, and she grabbed Piper by the shoulders. Piper tried to back away, but Rachel's hands were like steel clamps.

**Free me,** she said. But it wasn't Rachel's voice. It sounded like an older woman, speaking from somewhere far away, down a long, echoing pipe. **Free me, Piper McLean, or the earth shall swallow us. It must be by the solstice.**

The room started spinning. Annabeth tried to separate Piper from Rachel, but it was no use.

Green smoke enveloped them, and Piper was no longer sure if she was awake or dreaming. The giant statue of the goddess seemed to rise from its throne. It leaned over Piper, its eyes boring into her. The statue's mouth opened, its breath like horribly thick perfume. It spoke in the same echoing voice: **Our enemies stir. The fiery one is only the first. Bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. FREE ME!**

Piper's knees buckled, and everything went black.

* * *

**Hey guys, it's me Nikki! I just want to apologize for everything going on right now. I know I had made A LOT of changes to the story as I continued to update it and switched those changes back as of now. For those still confused on what I'm talking about, let me explain.**

**1 - I'm keeping Annabeth as a female in my story. That is my ultimate last decision. No takebacks. She will be mentioned as a love interest for Piper but she's still in deep love with Andy, even if the demigoddess doesn't know yet. Wether you want them to get together (Piper and Annabeth) or not will be up to you. If you ask nicely I might make a one-shot chapter in which the two get together.**

**2 - For those of you confused on what will happen with Calypso at the end of this series; I had decided that the best course of action would be to give her a chance in becoming a hunter of Artemis. After staying on an island for god knows how long, I think the offer to travel the world and be invincible to anymore heartbreak will appeal to her tremendously. This also allows Rhea and Leo to stay together as the endgame pairing.**

**3 - Finally, for those of you confused on who Andy will end up with at the end of this series; I found that it would be a lot more interesting for you as the readers to decide yourselves who would end up with Andy in the end. Below in the footnote is a link connecting to a new story of mine - Revealing Truths - in which the cast of my REWRITTEN HOO react to the PJO books with Andy. Whoever you chose will be who I will put her with in that fanfiction. The choices are found at the very end of this note.**

**Thank you all for continuing to read and follow my story. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.**

**CHOICES****: Nico Di Angelo/ Apollo/ Hermes/ Annabeth**


End file.
